John Madden Biopic Miniseries in the Works

John Madden’s life and career are the subjects of the upcoming limited series. According to Deadline, the series is in development and will be directed by Gavin O’Connor while Alex Sohn will write the script. Tom Brady is also involved in the project as his production company, 199 Productions, is working on the series along with Todd Lieberman’s Hidden Pictures, Lit Entertainment Group’s Adam Kolbrenner and Religion of Sports’ Gotham Chopra and Ryan Stowell. The series is slated to be called All Madden, and a broadcaster partner will be determined once the filmmakers finish the scripted episodes and then they’ll find the actor to play Madden. 

All Madden will focus on Madden’s quest to become one of the coaches and broadcasters in NFL history. He won a Super Bowl as a head coach of the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders) and has multiple Emmy Awards as an NFL analyst for CBS, FOX, ABC and NBC. The project was first pitched as a feature film before being switched to a limited series. 

“Initially when the conversations began, we were going to do this as a film but the deeper myself and Alex climbed inside John’s life, it just became clear it would be impossible to reduce his football life to a two-hour movie,” O’Connor told Deadline. “When you look at the contribution he made on the field as a football coach, to the transformation of two industries, broadcasting and video games, I just didn’t know how to do that in two hours. How many episodes? That will be dictated by the story, but it’s the three football businesses he was in that we’re going to be exploring.”  

“I grew up admiring John Madden, first as a coach, then as a commentator,” Brady said in a statement to Deadline. “I loved John’s passion for the game, especially his insatiable appetite for educating audiences about football. He welcomed fans with that warm smile, infectious laugh, and exceptional knowledge of the game, making everyone feel as if John were watching the broadcast right next to them on their living room sofa. On behalf of 199 Productions, I’m honored to collaborate with Virginia and Mike Madden, my co-founder at Religion of Sports, Gotham Chopra, and the rest of the creative team, in telling the iconic story of a family man who revolutionized not only the game but the culture of football.” Madden died at the age of 85 on Dec. 28, 2021.